Shabery Cheek: Dr M never debated anyone while PM

Minister also stands up for Prime Minister Najib Razak, saying that he prefers resolving issues behind closed doors.

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister of Communication and Multimedia, Ahmad Shabery Cheek today came to the defence of Prime Minister Najib Razak and said public debates with critics was not a tradition the country observed.

“Tun Mahathir (former prime minister) himself never debated anyone, opposition nor former Prime Ministers.

“During his (Mahathir) time, one of his critics was the former Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman but he never debated him in public,” Shabery told reporters outside Parliament today.

Najib, in recent times has come under heavy criticism, especially from Mahathir over a range of issues, mostly pertaining to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Last Friday, things came to a head when Mahathir showed up at a forum in Kuala Lumpur that Najib was scheduled to speak at, hoping to confront the prime minister about his many grouses.

However, the event was called off at the last minute on orders from the Inspector-General of Police who advised Najib not to attend because of a security threat at the venue.

Commenting on this turn of events, Shabery said it was right for Najib to heed the advice of the police. He also denied Najib’s opting out had anything whatsoever to do with Mahathir’s presence there that morning.

“The police felt security was compromised, and it was only right that the Prime Minister respect the advice of the police,” he said.

The public dialogue called Nothing2Hide was organised by law-based NGO SukaGuam.